MANSEHRA: Jamaat-i-Islami on Sunday demanded of the government to spend the Tarbela Dam’s royalty on the welfare of the people affected by its construction.

“Tarbela Dam’s royalty is not being utilised for the welfare of families affected by the hydropower project, whose ancestral graveyards were submerged under its reservoir,” Abdul Razzaq Abbasi, the JI divisional emir for Hazara, told a convention held in Darband area here.

Party workers from across Darband and Oghi tehsils attended the gathering in large numbers. Mr Abbasi declared JI was waging a ‘jihad’ for the rights of people.

“You should come forward and join our peaceful struggle for the enforcement of Shariah, which guarantees justice and rights without discrimination,” he said.

He announced that JI would launch a movement for the rights of Tarbela Dam affectees, who he said, were still deprived of their due benefits.

“People of Darband still lack healthcare facilities as the provincial government has not spent the funds it received from the federal government under Tarbela Dam’s royalty,” Mr Abbasi said.

He criticised both the provincial and federal governments for failing to address inflation and other pressing public issues.

“Our party has been striving to enrol around 55 million out-of-school children in educational institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” Mr Abbasi said, adding that thousands of people would also be trained under JI’s computer education programme.

“Our central emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman envisions equipping one million people across the country with computer education, and the people of Hazara from Haripur to Kohistan will equally benefit from the initiative,” he added.

JI district naib emir Sajjad Ahmad and Darband tehsil emir Salauddin Gohar also addressed the convention.

DENGUE FEVER: Oghi neighbourhood council chairman Dr Wajid Ali on Sunday urged the government to take precautionary measures to contain the rapidly spreading dengue fever.

“Though the district health department has carried out fumigation and established an isolation ward at the local health facility, more organised efforts are needed to curb this fast-growing virus here,” he told reporters in Oghi.

The rising number of dengue cases in Oghi and surrounding areas has sparked fear among residents, who called on the provincial government to eradicate mosquito larvae from known hotspots.

A delegation of locals, led by Dr Wajid Ali, met with Dr Adnan, the medical superintendent of the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, who assured them that the health department was taking all possible measures to provide quality healthcare to patients showing dengue symptoms.

He advised residents to eliminate stagnant water in and around their homes, which serves as breeding ground for mosquitoes.

“People should not panic over dengue, but instead adopt precautionary measures to contain the fever,” Dr Adnan said, adding that dengue diagnostic tests and medicines were being provided free of cost to all patients at the facility.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2025